The SRA Symposium - College of Medicine

In particular, the process of searching for, applying for, and managing extramural funding is new
territory for these “grant virgins.” Beyond coming up with interesting and novel science, they must
learn the language of sponsored research, with its R01’s, F&A, Fastlane and Commons. They must
also learn business practices, policies and processes for their institution and sponsoring agencies.
Mentoring
Mentoring is the standard method that academic medical centers use to teach junior faculty the
skills they need to be an academic researcher. Mentoring has been much described in the literature,
with many definitions and descriptions of responsibilities. While there is some disagreement
about terminology, most of the research community agrees that mentoring should involve training
and guidance on technical scientific skills as well as career development issues (Werner 2004,
Connor 2000, Bauchner 2002). Table 1 highlights the most commonly identified responsibilities of
mentoring.
Table 1: Responsibilities of the Mentor
• Developing research skills
• Selecting and conducting research projects
• Conducting research ethically
• Presenting research findings
• Completing and submitting manuscripts
• Guidance on balancing work/home life
• Promoting one’s career
• Networking
• Obtaining research funding
• Listening and problem solving
FN: Bauchner 2002; Pololi 2002, IOM 1997 Mott 2002,
Greggs-McQuilkin 2004, Waugh 2002, Tobin 2004,
Ramanan 2002, Connor 2000, Shea 1995, Mason 2003,
Schrubbe 2004, Waugh 2002,Werner 2004
Papers
Most academic medical centers rely on a traditional mentoring system for junior faculty, where
there is one mentor who trains and guides the mentee. One of the drawbacks of this model is
inherent to the one-on-one model: the mentee only learns what the mentor knows. The mentor’s
experience is based on a sample of one – his or her personal experience, which may not always
match the mentee’s needs (Waugh 2002, IOM 1997). Another drawback of this model is that the
best mentors are usually highly sought leaders, which means that they have less time to spend with
individual mentees (Pololi 2002, Connor 2000, Bauchner 2002). A major criticism of the mentored
learning experience is that the mentor does not have enough time to give adequate attention to the
mentee (Mason 2003, Bauchner 2002, Waugh 2002).
Research Administrators
Research administrators in academic institutions are typically involved in supporting investigators
in the procurement or management of research funding. This role may take various forms, from
assisting in budget development to ensuring compliance with sponsor regulations to overseeing
a departmental or institutional portfolio of sponsored research funding. There are a few areas
of knowledge, however, that are common across many research administrators. These individuals
typically have an in-depth familiarity with the various funding mechanisms and agencies that
sponsor research. They know the project timelines and budgetary implications of the funding
mechanisms and which sponsors are more likely to sponsor which kind of research. Research administrators
also generally know how the review process works for various funding agencies. They
frequently have access to information about who in the institution is doing what kinds of research
2005 Symposium Proceedings Book 187